What was the role of Dar an-Nadwah in the time of the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam?

What was the role of Dar an-Nadwah during the Jahilliyyah era? Were all the tribes given equal status? How many tribes were enrolled in Dar an-Nadwah? Did Nabī Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam approve of Dar an-Nadwah? What was the Islamic view towards Dar an-Nadwah?

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

Qusay bin Kilāb, one of the forefathers of Nabī Sallallāhu Alaihi Wa Sallam was given leadership over the affairs of Makkah Mukarramah and was granted the responsibilities of the Ka’bah. His nation accepted him whole heartedly. His tribe was loyal to him and carried out his orders with diligence and submission.

Qusay bin Kilāb built Dār an-Nadwah, an assembly hall in which the Qureish would gather together to consult on various issues. The Qureish were united and the leaders from every tribe would present themselves. The Dār an-Nadwa was situated by the Ka’ba and the door of Dār an-Nadwah would lead to the Ka’bah. [1]

The leadership and control over Dār an-Nadwah was handed over by Qusay bin Kilāb to his son Abd ad-Dār. Thereafter it was passed down into the hands of Abd ad-Dār’s son Abd Manāf. Similarly, it remained in the hands of Abd Manāf’s children and was inherited generation after generation. [2]

In the era of Nabī Sallallāhu Alaihi Wa Sallam, this assembly hall was used by the pagans of Qureish to plan against Nabī Sallallāhu Alaihi Wa Sallam. In the famous incident of Nabī Sallallāhu Alaihi Wa Sallam’s emigration to Al-Medīnah Al-Munawwarah, it was this very hall in which the Qureish consulted to assassinate Rasūlullāh Sallallāhu Alaihi Wa Sallam. [3]

Finally, Dār an-Nadwah was handed down to an illustrious companion of Nabī Sallallāhu Alaihi Wa Sallam, Hakīm bin Hizām Radhiyallāhu Anhu. [4] In the era of Muāwiyah Radhiyallāhu Anhu’s Khilāfah, he sold the hall for one hundred thousand Dirhams. [5]